Power S6E4: “Why Is Tommy Still Alive?”

Power just keeps getting better and better. A lot of stuff went down this week, and honestly it’s making me angry to see some of the backlash that this week’s episode got online. Last week, we got support for 50 Cent, and now I’m seeing people calling the story line a joke. I don’t know where this came from, because Power is outdoing itself with every new episode and I’m totally here for it.

This week’s episode “Why Is Tommy Still Alive?” begins as intense as it continues. Ghost sees a ghost, more or less. James is getting ready in his apartment when he walks into his bedroom to see Angie lying on the bed, and she asks him why Tommy is still alive. We know Angela, and I don’t think if she was alive that she would want James to kill Tommy; she wouldn’t want anyone dead at all. This is coming from Ghost, and his mind is torn between his routine that would be to kill someone who messes with him and his love for Tommy as a family member. What Angela and James both wanted was for him to get out of the game so they could have a real life together, and this scene is making me question whether the reason he couldn’t get out of the life for so long was in fact because he didn’t want to leave Tommy behind?

Angie tells James in this scene he chose Tommy over her. This could be James just guilt tripping himself as you do when you lose a loved one, but Ghost did choose the drug life over her and put her in danger. This scene could be him coming to terms with the fact that he did that for Tommy, and that perhaps Tommy is someone he needs. As we all know, Ghost has a hard time facing his emotions and the truth out loud.

We join Tommy as he is called to his apartment, and his mom is coming to stay for a couple of days while her place is being fumigated. Tommy’s mother is honestly a mess, and she brings him down with her every time because she’s manipulative, and I don’t like her at all. She asks Keisha if she knows about Tommy’s ex, referring to Holly, and tells her it was a bad break-up, Keisha’s eyes let us know that she definitely doesn’t know that whole story, and I don’t know what she would think if she did.

In an intense moment I wasn’t prepared to see, Proctor brings Dre over to Ghost’s office, and he immediately grabs him and is about to stab him in the eye with what Proctor points out to be a monogrammed James St. Patrick pen. Dre’s here coming clean with Ghost about the feds wanting info about his business, and acting like he’s just getting real with him because he wants his daughter back, but after everything, does he think we can’t see right through that shit? More importantly, does he think Ghost is actually that stupid?

He tells Ghost who the witness is against him, and Proctor wants to know where she is. James tells Dre that he has to wear a wire when he talks with Saxe, and if anything suspicious comes up, he’s “gonna sign the inside of your fucking skull with this pen.” Message received.

In my opinion, the moment that Saxe sent Dre to secretly watch Ghost, he sent him into a death trap, but Saxe has gotten so invested in this case that he literally will risk any life for the chance to bring James St. Patrick down. Is it all because of Angela?

Tasha puts her divorce on hold presumably to keep up with her Queens Child Project commitments. As she does, a man walks into her new daycare building looking to sign his child up. From the moment I saw this guy I knew for sure he was in danger. You need a man to look at you the way that Quinton looks as Tasha in this scene, and I don’t know for sure but he seems like he might be genuine? He tells Tasha that he feels like luck might be turning his way, in reference to his daughter, but anyone falling for Tasha isn’t faced with the best luck, as we’ve seen from the past. Tasha gets a moment-ruining phone call that lets her know James dissolved Raina’s trust by forging her signature.

Ghost pays Jason the money he owes for not delivering Alicia in the last episode, and he is pressured to keep making payments. With all this heat on Ghost for money, I find myself expecting him to have no choice but to turn back to the distro life and start dealing again. I don’t want to see that at all and I can only hope he finds a way around it, but you know Ghost doesn’t always go about things the right way.

When we catch up with Tariq, we see him receive a text from Vincent claiming that “delivery time.” Tariq then makes a big mistake and steals from Tommy’s drug supply. I don’t know what he’s thinking; Tariq has the potential to make it out of the hood unlike his dad and uncles, and he’s choosing to be in the game. If it’s all for money, I’m disappointed in him. Tommy is too. Later in the episode, Tommy discovers Vincent with Tommy’s drugs and finds out he got them from a “friend of Kanan’s” and of course Tariq doesn’t come clean when confronted. He tells Tommy that Kanan gave them to him and promises not to distribute any more. Even if I believed Tariq (which by the way I don’t), Vincent makes it clear to his friend that he’s using the kid because when he has control over Tariq, he has control over Ghost and Tommy too.

It occurs to me that when youngers seek out trouble for themselves, you can almost always look to the parents for the reason why. Tariq may have had it all in the material world, but he was pretty neglected by his dad, and he looked for a father figure in Kanan. Unfortunately that was the wrong role model to look up to, but he didn’t have anybody else. He grew up surrounded by parental figures, all of which were involved in the drug business and from the outside appeared successful. Tariq may have gotten the idea that this was the easy way to “get rich.”

BG, 2-Bit, Spanky and Tommy need to get out to start making deliveries from Jason’s shipment, but there is talk of a leak that has the whole street blocked. They use their fake ambulance to break out, and a hooded Ghost returns as he watched them before fleeing to his car. Tate’s new spy warns him that he better get his boys there soon because some shit’s about to go down. Oh boy, was he right.

Ghost tracks the fake ambulance and with perfect timing crashes his car right into the side of the ambulance where Tommy is seated. They make eye contact and Ghost immediately pulls out his gun. There’s a shoot-out and the ambulance truck manages to drive away with everyone unharmed while Ghost gets approached by police.

I had expected that these police were frauds; however, when they brought Ghost to his own office to find Tate at his desk, we discover the consequences behind Tate’s power. These are policemen and they’re incredibly loyal to the councilman. Tate tries to make a power move on Ghost and insists Ghost can’t be doing whatever he’s doing while he’s involved with the project, but Ghost hits back hard with the fact that now Tate got his own men involved in helping Ghost pull that off—now that Tommy and whoever else have Tate, his men and his many to go after in order to get to Ghost. Ghost always has a tale to tell, and he’s often pretty convincing. He could potentially talk/bullshit his way out of any situation, and he did it confidently this time.

Tasha’s love life looks like it’s taking an unexpected turn with this new guy. He is visiting her multiple times throughout this episode and I don’t think it’s to see the development of the day care. Tasha claims she needs a break and I think this is the break she needs. However, things take a turn and again it’s because of Ghost. After Tasha fights to get her money back from Raina’s trust and put into her business, Ghost shows up and argues that he is using for Raina’s legacy. But Tasha is right: Raina would prefer her mother to make it on her own with this business than to have the name on some building, especially since James seems to have no real emotion behind this project. In the midst of this argument, Quinton visits Tasha and James looks terrifying. If he doesn’t want Tasha, why can’t he be a man and let someone else make her happy? Instead, it looks like the future is grim for Quinton. I don’t trust Ghost with any man Tasha likes.

With Dre revealing himself as an untrustworthy character, yet again, he discovers where the female witness lives and leads Ghost right to her, we see him sending secret messages to Saxe letting him know that a Ghost is strapped and heading her way. I get the feeling that Ghost knows exactly what’s going on as he doesn’t kill her when he sees her. He certainly makes it look dramatic by putting on his black gloves, but he hands her money for her to start over and leave. While they drive away, they both spot the FBI show up. But they don’t enter, presumably because Dre texted Saxe to inform them that Ghost didn’t make a move. Now Ghost knows not to trust Dre, and if he can’t trust him well that monogrammed pen is waiting.

In a previous article of mine, I suggested Tommy and Keisha to be a power couple, and this week they both took control over a situation of their own. LaKeisha saw her son was beat up by some kids who stole his book bag, and she handles it in a less than calm way. Tommy’s mother uses this as a reason to tell Tommy she will always put her son first and she’s not the one for him, and he throws her out of the house. Tommy and his mother have an uncomfortable relationship, and yet she always gets into his head, even when he knows she is wrong. In bed later, he tells her what happened and they insist they have each other’s backs. I believe it honestly, but Tommy is still lying about not speaking to Tasha anymore.

I think Tommy seeing Tasha relates to something he said to Keisha in this scene, which was that he looked to Ghost for family, when she and her son were who he needed all along. It reminds me of what I spoke of earlier in reference to Ghost needing Tommy in his life. At one point they were completely honest with each other and that relationship felt like the only real family they both had. Tommy now has Keisha to turn to for family with Ghost gone but still seeks the feeling he once had through his friendship with Tasha and Tariq. Ghost on the other hand has no family to turn to now, and maybe that’s why he can’t handle people moving on without him, and maybe why he’s being haunted by Angie.

I don’t know about you, but every time I see Proctor in the show recently, I am immediately searching for where his daughter’s bugged backpack can be, and this is where it finally happened. Proctor’s ex-wife discovers she didn’t pass the bar exam at the same time that Joe tells her he is seeing someone and apparently planning an engagement. This spirals her out of control and she immediately starts using again, Joe’s daughter calls him to the scene and his ex-wife asks him for help and asks him to call 911…

As he is dialing, he realises she’s dying in front of him, but instead of helping, he tells her he won’t let her take his daughter away, and lets her die. Of course, as we zoom out, there is the backpack with it all on tape. Only question is: how will Saxe receive this now?

In our final scene this week, Ghost tries to convince his vision of Angela that he really is changing, and that he blames himself for her death and everything he’s done, he even admits to killing Terry Silver. All that tells me though is that he has Tasha’s love interests on the mind.

As he defends himself, he makes the point that he didn’t kill Maria, the witness, to which Angie replies “you will.”

It’s a chilling moment, and my face had the same expression that Ghost’s did. I have to say, Power Season 6 is really hitting us with some strong endings.

Join us next week for more coverage of Power Season 6.

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Abbie Sears is an author for 25YL who is also a Hospitality Business Management student from England. She has a love for nature, spirituality and all things mysterious. Her spare time is spent binge watching television and movies, she is also a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend superfan!